Total online purchases made in 2012, which exceeded 500,000 transactions, were up 7% on those registered in 2011.
Courier companies were surprised by the figures, which exceeded their expectations. "The market is healthy and growing each year," said Jorge Gomez, General Manager of TransExpress.
"According to Gomez, 2012 showed an annual growth of 17%, compared to the more than 400,000 transactions recorded in 2011, but the biggest move of the year came during the last week of November with Black Friday (last 23 November), and continued throughout December, peaking right at the end of the year.
Courier companies project a growth of 35% in packages shipped by the end of year compared to 2010.
Jonathan Beltran, Aerocasillas’ marketing manager, said the company recorded an average flow of 4,000 packages per month between January and October (considered low season) and for the months of November and December (considered high season) , they project an average of 8,000 per month.
In 2009, Guatemalans bought $8 million online, a 10% increase when compared to 2008.
The most sought after items were technological devices, e-books, magazines, books, CDs, DVDs and clothing.
Jorge Gómez, CEO of Trans Express told Prensalibre.com: “A couple of years ago, consumers used to make one or two online purchases each year. They now buy 10 to 15 times more”.
The most sought for articles are technology items, among them computers, mobile phones and music players.
Jonathan Beltrán, customer service manager at Aerocasillas, remarked that purchases have increased 200% in the past three months.
Randall Chaverri, marketing manager at TransExpress, said in an Elsalvador.com article that "we currently have 35.000 customers in El Salvador who confidently make many internet transactions".